The invention relates to a fastener, comprising a main body composed of a gas-tight and liquid-tight material, which serves to hold an object and can be affixed with the aid of an adhesive to a support surface.
A fastener of this type which forms of a component of an assembly system is known from International Patent Publication No. WO 03/036106.
This assembly system is used for the locally fixed attaching of objects such as towel holders, shelves, light fixtures or similar equipment articles to a wall, a ceiling or a similar surface, in particular in rooms having walls coverings of tiles, marble slabs or the like. The assembly system consists of different types of fasteners and an adhesion or bonding agent, which can be an aerobic adhesive, wherein the shape of the fasteners must be adapted in dependence on the purpose. Systems of this type have the disadvantage of requiring extremely long curing times for the adhesive, which can last up to twelve hours, thereby considerably reducing the ease of installation of the systems. In cases where the environmental conditions are dry and cold, the adverse effects on the curing process can be particularly strong.
The fastener serves to receive an element that holds the object and comprises a main body which is provided at the back side facing the wall with a recess and a filling opening that empties into the latter. Adhesive and/or bonding agent is introduced via this opening into the space between the fastener and the wall.
The back side of the main body, which is facing the wall, is sufficiently liquid-permeable and gas permeable, at least in some regions, so that the gas that develops during the curing of the adhesive and bonding agent in the recess can escape and/or volatile bonding agents can evaporate and environmental air can simultaneously come into contact with this adhesive and bonding agent, thereby allowing a curing of the adhesive agent and ensuring a stable and load-bearing fixation of the fastener on the wall.
The disadvantage of the above described system is that the adhesive and bonding agent must always be in contact with environmental air via the gas-permeable and liquid-permeable wall of the main body to ensure a sufficient curing. As a result, the structural design options for the fastener are strongly restricted in an undesirable manner.
A fastening agent composed of a mixture of an aerobic adhesive and a hydrophilic substance is known from the International Patent Publication No. WO 2009/156013 A1. By adding the hydrophilic substance to the aerobic adhesive, a fastening agent mixture is formed which no longer requires surface contact with moist environmental air in order to cure from this surface inward. Rather, the hydrophilic substance dispersed in the aerobic adhesive that is contained in the mixture ensures that the aerobic adhesive in the mixture can cure from the inside out, even if there is no contact with the external environmental air containing the moisture. The moisture needed for the curing and/or the required oxygen are present in the hydrophilic substance itself since this substance contains enough moisture, owing to its hydrophilic characteristics, to meet the curing requirements for the mixture that forms the fastening agent.
With the fastening agent embodied in this way, an object can be secured easily on a support by applying a layer of the fastening agent between the object and the support.
When using the fastening agent, it is critical that the components are mixed together just prior to the use.
An assembly set is provided for this which contains two receptacles for the separate storage of the aerobic adhesive and the hydrophilic substance. The desired amounts of the components can then be removed from these receptacles for the mixing of the fastening agent, wherein a spatula is used for the mixing.
Following this, a layer of the fastening agent is applied to the object, and the object is subsequently affixed to the support surface by pressing the layer of fastening agent against the support surface. The aerobic adhesive in this layer thus cures as a result of the moisture contained in the hydrophilic substance.